The Dodo Archive

Blistering Undercover Footage Brings Animal Abusers To Justice

An undercover investigation into a dairy farm revealed such blistering footage of abuse that the farm closed its doors - and, now, four workers have been charged with animal cruelty for their atrocious acts.

WARNING: Video contains disturbing footage.

The video, which was released by Mercy For Animals (MFA) in September, showed dairy employees abusing the cows by kicking them and punching them, whipping them with chains, stabbing them with screwdrivers and even shocking them on their genitals with cattle prods to make them move when they were too sick or exhausted to stand.

The New Mexico farm, Winchester Dairy, shut its doors shortly after the video was released, relocating the cows to other dairies. And this week, four former employees were charged with nine counts of animal cruelty.

In a release, MFA praised the Chaves County District Attorney's Office for bringing charges, but noted that the owners of farms like Winchester Dairy are ultimately responsible for "allowing a culture of criminal cruelty and neglect to fester at their factory farm."

And sadly, farms like these are the rule, not the exception. Matt Rice, MFA's director of investigations, told the LA Times in December that farms aren't targeted for suspected violations. Rather investigators document abuse wherever they can get hired - and they always find something.

Fortunately, footage like this has had a small but noteworthy impact on some of the companies involved.

Winchester Dairies was a supplier for the world's largest mozzarella supplier, Leprino, meaning that cheese from these abused cows were sent to popular restaurants like Domino's, Papa John's and Pizza Hut. In response to the video, Leprino adopted what MFA calls "the most comprehensive animal welfare policy ever adopted by a major U.S. dairy company."